Sena leader Sanjay Raut gets bail in money laundering case

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, Nov 09, 2022: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut was granted bail in a money laundering case pertaining to the Patra Chawl redevelopment project on Wednesday. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after over six hours of questioning in the Rs 1,034-crore Patra Chawl land scam case a few months ago.

 

Raut’s aide and prime accused Pravin Raut has also been granted bail by a special court in Mumbai.

Raut,a senior leader of the Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction, had in his bail plea claimed the case against him was a perfect example of "abuse of power" and "political vendetta". He is currently in judicial custody and lodged at the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai.The ED had opposed Raut’s plea, saying he played a major role in the money laundering case related to the Patra Chawl redevelopment and acted "behind the curtains" to avoid the money trail.

The ED’s probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl and related financial transactions involving Sanjay Raut’s wife and associates.

Patra Chawl, in Goregaon is spread over 47 acres and houses 672 tenant families. In 2008, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), a government agency, assigned a redevelopment contract for the Chawl to Guru Ashish Construction Private Limited (GACPL), a sister company of the Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL).

The GACPL was supposed to build 672 flats for the tenants and also give some flats to MHADA. It was free to sell the remaining land to private developers.

But the tenants did not get a single flat in the last 14 years as the company did not redevelop the Patra Chawl and sold land parcels and Floor Space Index (FSI) to other builders for Rs 1,034 crore, as per the ED.

The first chargesheet was filed by the ED on March 31, 2022 against Sarang and Rakesh Wadhawan, the promoters of DHFL, and Pravin Raut and his company. In September, the agency had filed a supplementary chargesheet against Sanjay Raut, with some material against Pravin Raut as well.

The allegations against Pravin Raut are of laundering Rs 112 crore, out of which Rs 1.06 crore was diverted to Sanjay Raut and his wife Varsha Raut through different methods.

Courtesy: India Today